A Visitor
by RT4ever
Summary: Carly recieves a visitor that changes everything. It's got everyone in it.
1. Default Chapter

A Visitor  
  
"Caroline," Carly turned around looking for who was calling her, but the club was empty.  
  
"Hello? Who's there?" she turned nervously  
  
"Caroline" the voice sounded so impatient and so.so.familiar?  
  
"Who's there? Where are you?" Carly turned more, looking for the voice.  
  
"Carrie, it's me."  
  
Carly's heart froze, she knew that voice, and she knew her old name, "Carly?" She whispered softly afraid of everything all of a sudden.  
  
"Finally" the voice said and then as if by magic Carly Roberts appeared before her.  
  
"But, but..you're dead," Carly said backing up, wishing she was home with Sonny and Michael.  
  
The apparition before her just gave a small laugh "I kinda did notice that Carrie."  
  
"Why are you here?" Part of Carly knew she should be bursting with joy, love, everything positive.Carly was here, Carly her best friend, her sister, the person she'd always wanted to be was here, with her..But she knew better, she knew she should be scared.  
  
"Nice to see you too," the ghost said as she smiled evermore brightly  
  
"Is this one of those Christmas Carol stories?"  
  
"Huh?" her friend looked at her perplexed  
  
"You know Scrooge, three ghosts; I need to change something in my life."  
  
But ghost Carly just laughed at her "Christmas is over. It's the 29th."  
  
"I know" Carly said smiling "Michael's birthday, we had a party at my mother's."  
  
Ghost Carly just smiled at her and said nothing  
  
This worried Carly "Why are you here then?"  
  
"I think you know," her friend was no longer smiling  
  
"No I don't." Carly said shaking her head and turning away.  
  
"Carrie," the ghost reached out and touched her shoulder.  
  
This caused Carly to jerk away in fear "I can feel you."  
  
"I know"  
  
"No," Carly said shaking her head "No, no I can't be. I've got too much in my life. I have a son, a husband; no everything's going so great."  
  
"Carrie, baby I'm sorry." The ghost reached out again to touch her, but Carly moved away.  
  
"I AM NOT DEAD" she screamed at the ghost, this devil, this evil figment of her imagination. Someone put something into her drink, she was drugged, it was a bad dream, that's all this was.  
  
"Car."  
  
But she cut them off "No, Michael turned five today, he needs his mommy."  
  
"Carrie, he's never known you."  
  
Carly turned back "What?" she whispered  
  
"You died five years ago."  
  
Carly shook her head "No I didn't."  
  
"Yea baby, you did. They couldn't stop the bleeding." Tears had formed in her best friend's eyes and she realized now they mirrored her own and she felt them sliding down her cheeks.  
  
"I'm not dead Carly, I didn't die then. I'm alive, I'm married, everything's great." Carly said shaking her head, suddenly Brenda, Alcazar, murder charges didn't matter.  
  
"Baby this isn't real. People deal with death differently, sometimes people don't deal at all, and I thought you were going to be one of those people. You created this, this isn't what's real. Parts of it are because you're still tapped into it, but you don't exist there, not like you think you do."  
  
"I don't believe you," was all she could say.  
  
"I don't blame you," the spirit answered honestly, "just come with me though. See what's real and maybe you won't be so scared."  
  
Carly had no choice but to take her hand.. 


	2. 2

Carly heard Michael giggling before she even saw him, "Aaaah Mommy enough."  
  
"You've had enough have you? I don't think so."  
  
Carly couldn't believe her eyes and she saw Robin with Michael in her arms tickling him.  
  
"You need a bath mister, too much birthday fun for you, you're all stinky." Robin crinkled her nose as she said this.  
  
"Ugh, I don't wanna bath." Michael complained in her arms  
  
"Too bad, little boys who play with ponies need baths."  
  
"But.."  
  
"How about a bubble bath?"  
  
Michael seemed to think about it for a bit, then asked "The foam soap too?"  
  
Robin put a look of dismay on her face "Is there any other way?"  
  
Michael considered this for a bit longer "Can I kiss Julie goodnight first?"  
  
Robin smiled "Of course"  
  
With that Michael jumped up and ran out of the room and up the stairs with Robin trailing behind him.  
  
Carly turned to her ghost "No" was all she said  
  
Ghost Carly shut her eyes "I know you don't like her, but look at Michael Carly, look at how happy he is."  
  
"No" she said shaking her head "How did this happen, why is my son calling her Mommy?"  
  
"Jason loved Robin, Jason has always loved Robin, you made him hate her in your mind, but I don't think he ever could."  
  
"She told AJ about being Michael father." Carly screamed "How could he love her after that?"  
  
"I don't know if he could, but the point is she never did that. You created that in your mind because you wanted him. She eventually came home from Paris, just as she did in your mind and she took care of Michael and they ended up getting married a little before Michael's first birthday. They adopted a daughter just two months ago, Michael loves her. He's happy Carrie, I know it hurts to realize he could be happy without you, but he's loved kid, by so many people."  
  
"Jason's his daddy?" Carly said wiping tears away from her eyes  
  
"Just like you always wanted him to be and he's so good at it. Just look at him."  
  
Without even realizing she'd been moved Carly saw Jason as he lifted Michael up into his arms. "You said goodnight buddy, but now it's time for your bath."  
  
Michael whined "But it's my birthday."  
  
"Too bad," Jason said settling a kiss on the top of his son's head.  
  
Michael groaned once more  
  
"Did you have a good birthday?"  
  
"Uh huh" Michael sighed  
  
"The ponies were cool huh?"  
  
Michael's eyes brighten "Yea..Can I get one to keep?"  
  
"Um, I don't think so, but I bet Grandma and Grandpa would love it if you went over to their house and they have a stable. I bet Emily would teach you how to ride."  
  
"Then can I get my own?" Michael asked with the persistence of a five year old and Jason just laughed.  
  
But then as suddenly as they had appeared before her, they were gone "Hey?" she cried to her guide  
  
"Sorry, we need to talk and you can't do that watching them."  
  
"He looks so happy," she said turning off and staring into space, "Did he have a lot of friends over?"  
  
Ghost Carly laughed at her "His entire kindergarten class plus some. It's easier having friends when your dad just owns a bike shop and your mom's a doctor."  
  
"I'm sure it must be." But Carly didn't sound convinced.  
  
"He's happy." Her friend tried to tell her once more  
  
"He was happy with me and Sonny. Sonny was his dad" she turned to face her friend "Does he even know Sonny?" When she didn't respond Carly was forced to ask "Is Sonny even alive? Sonny needs me, just like I need him."  
  
"Car."  
  
Once more Carly cut off her friend "Why don't you just show me, since you seem to love doing that so much." 


	3. 3

Once more Carly cut off her friend "Why don't you just show me, since you seem to love doing that so much."  
  
Then right before her eyes was Sonny with holding a little girl with dark brown curls and dark brown eyes and Carly knew she needed no explanation as to who her mother was. "Brenda" was all she said  
  
"Yes" her friend told her "When you weren't there to pull Sonny through those dark days he tried to kill himself, he didn't know how to exist without her.She found out and she came back, she had stayed away to keep him safe, happy, but without her he was dying. They ran away again before anyone realized she was alive. That's their daughter Adela, they called her Ella, she's almost two."  
  
"Sonny got the child he always wanted and the woman he always wanted." Said dejectedly  
  
"He did" her friend agreed and as if on cue to prove her point Brenda walked into the room, large as a house with another child for Sonny to adore.  
  
"I thought Ella was sleeping?" she said smiling  
  
"She needed a hug; she needed to be sure this was all real." Sonny said looking into his wife's eyes.  
  
She wrapped her arms around her as he freed one to secure her with "This is as real and it's only the beginning."  
  
Carly closed her eyes before she saw them kiss; when she opened them again they were gone. "I so did not need to see that."  
  
"You need to know everyone's okay."  
  
"How can everyone be okay? One day Michael's going to find out AJ's his real dad and his life will be ruined because I'm not there to protect him."  
  
Her friend shook her head and said, "Get ready to close your eyes again." 


	4. 4

"I'm home, I'm sorry, I know I'm a terrible husband" AJ said coming in crashing through the door.  
  
"Just the worse" came from Keesha who appeared out of a doorway in almost nothing, well except for the smile.  
  
AJ dropped his briefcase to his side and smiled "Remind me to be late more often." He was about to kiss her when a cry broke out from upstairs.  
  
They both groaned "I'll go get her," Keesha said breaking free of her arms.  
  
"No, I'll go." He started up the stairs "I don't suppose there's actually food? I didn't eat lunch today; I spent the only half hour I had free between meetings on the phone with Michael telling me about his pony ride."  
  
Keesha looked perplexed "But it's December, isn't."  
  
AJ laughed "Jason rented out the gym at the Y."  
  
And once more they were gone..  
  
"What you're trying to make me believe AJ and Jason get along?"  
  
"AJ was almost a good guy once, he just had trouble a good guy, but Keesha keeps him on that track."  
  
Carly shook her head in disbelief "So tell me the story behind this already."  
  
"It's pretty simple like the rest, you died, Jason was Michael's dad, AJ could move on with his life. He and Keesha worked things out and then he took up running the ELQ offices out in LA. Their daughter Lillian is almost a year and he's been sober for over five."  
  
"You know I'm really sick of hearing about how great everyone's life is without me, isn't anyone suffering?"  
  
"Unfortunately yes." 


	5. 5

"Five years, how can it have already been five years?" Virginia said putting down her tea in Bobbie's living room  
  
"I know." Bobbie replied  
  
"Sometimes it seems like forever, but most times, I still see that little girl running home covered in grass stains and mud."  
  
"She was too young."  
  
"Any child is too young."  
  
"So much time wasted.."  
  
"So many fights."  
  
"God, she loved to pick them," Bobbie said with a smile. "She just wanted to be loved so badly. I wish she had let me done that. I wish she'd let me be her mother."  
  
Virginia shook her head "She tried; she just didn't know how to let it in. She was so afraid of it, she was so afraid of being hurt, rejected."  
  
"She deserved more time, why not us? She should be here raising Michael."  
  
"She's raising him, we just can't see her, but she's there. I can feel her right now, she knows that he's okay, she sees him happy, he's one very loved little boy."  
  
Bobbie laughed "He should be, he's got six grandparents."  
  
"That little boy has everything in the world except for his Mommy."  
  
"I know," Bobbie replied as she picked her tea back up and the both became quiet.  
  
  
  
Carly started to cry as they left her "She never got to know me."  
  
Her friend took her in her arms "Yes she did, she has Virginia, she has Jason, they both know who you are, flaws and all they knew you and they loved you and most importantly she has Michael, she knows you through him."  
  
"Oh god, I don't want them to leave me, I don't want to leave them." Carly sobbed  
  
"You'll always be with them, you'll always be watching over." She tried to console as she rubbed her back.  
  
"It's not the same" she cried  
  
"I know Carrie, I know, but at least this will be real."  
  
With that Caroline Benson took the hand of her best friend and allowed herself to be freed from the purgatory she had been living in and walked into the light. 


End file.
